“Couple to open second Tri-Valley restaurant, offers worldly flavors”

Couple to open second Tri-Valley restaurant, offers worldly flavors

Posted: 17 Nov 2010 04:19 PM PST

A husband-and-wife team that runs a bustling eatery in Pleasanton wants to bring a Latin American fusion restaurant to Dublin, a sign that the Tri-Valley is beginning to land unique dining offerings.

Coco Cabana is the new restaurant being opened by Omar Etemadi and his wife, Sadaf. Coco Cabana, which is scheduled to open in January, will take about 5,000 square feet in The Shops at Waterford on the eastern end of Dublin. The Etemadis currently operate Oasis Grille & Wine Lounge, a Mediterranean fusion restaurant.

"The new restaurant will have influences of Latin American food in the cuisine," said Sadaf Etemadi. "Coco Cabana is a mixture of flavors and the best dishes from every country in Central and South America you could think of."

The two restaurants run by the Etemadis are an indicator that unusual food offerings can be popular in this part of the East Bay.

"It's not just San Jose or San Francisco that can offer these things," Sadaf Etemadi said. "People are sick of all these chain restaurants. They want to go to a place where new things can be offered.

Diners say they want to engage in restaurant experiences that are different.

"This will be unique to the area," said Jessica Stewart, a broker with the Pleasanton office of Lee & Associates, a commercial realty firm that arranged the Coco Cabana deal. "It's a trendier concept that you typically see in big cities."

Coco Cabana is represents the final

empty space in Shops at Waterford, a retail complex at the northwest corner of Tassajara Road and Dublin Boulevard. In January of this year, a partnership led by Walnut Creek-based Loja Group bought the center for an estimated $44 million.

"They will incorporate a lounge in an area that is partitioned off from the main dining room," Stewart said. "People can have drinks after work in a casual setting, rather than sit down and have a full-course dinner." The drinking area is expected to be a tequila and wine lounge.

Although the restaurant will offer a trendy Latin fusion array of dishes, that doesn't mean the Etemadis expect to cater solely to 20-something professionals.

"It's going to be for everyone," Sadaf Etemadi said. "It's going to be a class restaurant that's affordable. There are families with children who want a nice place to eat. But it's also a place to go on a Friday or Saturday night."

The Etemadis already have a success on their hands with the Oasis Grille, which opened in 2005.

"Oasis Grille is doing well," Sadaf Etemadi said. "The people get the concept, and now they love the cuisine. It has influences of Persian food, Greek food and other foods as well."

Dublin city officials have fully embraced Coco Cabana as it prepares for its opening. The space the new dining establishment is taking over is a spot once occupied by a restaurant called Stacey's, which closed in mid-2009.

"We're excited about this and about the style of food that Omar and Sadaf want to bring to Dublin," said Linda Maurer, the city's economic development director.

The Etemadis had no formal background in cooking before they launched Oasis Grille, which was their first restaurant. They certainly had an interest in food, though.

"We always had a passion for cooking," Sadaf Etemadi said.

She said had planned to become a dentist and was a biology major from UC Berkeley who was going to dental school. Omar Etemadi was a residential real estate agent.

"My husband gave up his full-time job," Sadaf Etemadi said. "I gave up dental school."

Now, the Etemadis have found something that is far more than just a job.

"We immersed ourselves in our restaurant," Sadaf Etemadi said. "We love it."

Contact George Avalos at 925-977-8477.

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